government. >> so true. we also can look at the difference and say, well, maybe holiday discretionary spending wasn't as strong, but retail spending generally held up okay. maybe not the best sign tore some of the retailers, back up not a reason to completely lose faith in the u.s. consumer. we should point out this disparity we've seen where capital spending, goods for new capital orders have been weak and retail sales have been relatively strong. labor income has held up okay. frankly, when you look at 2013, the outlook for that to continue looks recently good. >> well, sure. and the other thing we'll look forward to is the number on jobless claims. they were back to their prehurricane level suggesting that the labor market hasn't fallen out of bed. there will be an interesting announcement coming out of the irs sometime between now and the end of the year which will be very important. they're going to give guidance to employers on what will be the tax withholding rates for 2013. under the laws, those with